Joël Robuchon - Las Vegas
Hard to tell that this is inside a casino
Rating: 15/20
Where: Las Vegas, Nevada
When: Dinner for 2 on 25 November 2024
Cost per Person: Tasting menu $525, Wine Pairing $225-$950
Accolades: Formerly 3 Michelin Stars (2008-2009)
Why: Classic dishes by Joël Robuchon
Las Vegas’ “Joël Robuchon” is one of the three current flagships of the Joël Robuchon restaurant group. The other two locations - in Tokyo and Macau - boast three Michelin stars each. The Las Vegas version had three stars as well from 2008 to 2009, but lost them when Michelin stopped covering the city - probably due to poor sales of its printed guide. Today, only a lonely silver Michelin plaque near the restaurant's entrance reminds guests of the fifteen year old accolades.
So what happened to this restaurant that was once at the top of the fine-dining world, and then lost its stars through no fault of its own? On a recent visit to Las Vegas, we had a chance to find out.
“Joël Robuchon” is located inside the MGM Grand casino complex right on the Las Vegas Strip. Finding the hotel with its distinctive green exterior is not difficult, but once inside, navigating the maze-like casino without a map is far from trivial. Thankfully, we finally made it, returning to the restaurant for the first time since 2016. At first glance, it looked like not much had changed - the interior was still mostly decorated in black with some purple accents.
On this Monday before Thanksgiving, Joël Robuchon was fully booked, presumably a good sign for its financial viability especially given the stratospheric price of $525 for the tasting menu. Dietary restrictions were happily accommodated, and there were three wine pairings to choose from, for $225, $450 and $950. I went with the “cheapest” one, and the wines were all pretty good, both by themselves and to accompany the food.
Compared to our dinner in 2016, the tasting menu had been simplified a lot. Back then, the dinner was split into half dozen or so services, and each consisted of about three dishes being served together, leading to twenty-ish dishes in total. Today, we got a straight-forward tasting menu with not even half that many individual dishes. Unfortunately, the price had pretty much stayed the same.
Before our first dishes arrived, we were treated to the famous Joël Robuchon bread cart. Over a dozen different kinds of breads were available, from baguettes to croissants, from breads with cheese to pain epis with bacon, and many, many more. At least the first round of breads is heated up before serving. Unfortunately, while I loved the accompanying French butter and Italian olive oil, the breads themselves left me a bit cold. They were all fine, but not a single one was particularly remarkable. Still, they were helpful for sopping up any left-over sauces.
Our tasting menu started with what might be the most famous dish created by Joël Robuchon. Crab meat seasoned with dill was covered with a generous amount of caviar and a gold leaf. This was surrounded by a seafood jelly dotted with a cauliflower sauce. Tastewise, the center of the plate was the star of the dish - the crab was perfectly seasoned with great flavor, which was further enhanced by the salty caviar on top. The surrounding jelly, though? It was arguably more crab-flavored that the actual crab meat. But that flavor was pretty single-note, the cauliflower impossible to taste, and there was a lot of that jelly. It felt more like decoration than an essential part of the dish. The crab and caviar might rate a 19 or 20, but the rest was more of a 15, averaging 18.
Slices of fingerling potatoes were served with scoops of a foie gras terrine, croutons and a truffle sauce. This was a very lightly flavored dish. The foie gras didn't taste of much, and the rest felt like a generic salad. The truffle sauce was nice, but there was unfortunately very little of it 14. The pescatarian variant replaced the foie gras with avocados, which made the dish seem even more like a nondescript salad 14.
A small seared scallop was topped with chopped chives, ginger and caviar. It was surrounded by a saffron-scented mussel emulsion and sat on top of potato slices. The best part about this dish was the sauce - full of seafood/mussel flavors with a hint of saffron. The scallop itself was totally bland though, and also didn't seem particularly fresh, as if it had been previously frozen. Still, for the wonderful sauce 17.
Inside a little carved out pumpkin, we were served a pumpkin velouté that contained some diced pumpkin, pumpkin seeds, a sweet onion foam, little bacon cubes and white truffles. The dish was finished with a cheese crisp on top. I'm not the biggest pumpkin fan, with its often cloyingly sweet preparations. Here, there were good aspects: the slightly crunchy pumpkin seeds added some texture, the bacon bits contributed flavor and saltiness. But I wasn't a fan of the sweet diced pumpkin, and I couldn't make out any truffle taste. Overall, the creamy soup wasn't bad, but didn't feel particularly differentiated 16.
A filet of John Dory had been cooked tempura-style and was topped with a similarly tempura’ed shiso leaf. They sat on top of a squid ink risotto and came with a coulis of yuzu and parsley. There were also some spices on the side: black pepper, chives and espelette pepper, available to be added to taste. Sadly, the fish was overcooked, it didn't have much taste and no distinctive texture. The closest comparable dish that came to mind were fish sticks - the fish part was a dead ringer for taste and texture, just the tempura batter was different from the typical breading. The yuzu and parsley sauce felt pretty mayonnaissey, strengthening the association with a tartar sauce. Finally, the risotto was overcooked as well, long past an al dente consistency. Don't get me wrong, fish sticks can be quite enjoyable, but I wouldn’t exactly call them fine dining, nor expect their taste-equivalent in a $525 menu 14.
Next, we got the single course that featured two distinct preparations. On a plate was a piece of seared foie gras topped with eel, next to a sweet and sour pluot in a red wine reduction. In a separate bowl was a flan made of uni (sea urchin) and a crustacean emulsion. The bite of seared foie gras actually tasted mostly of eel, and was drenched in a sauce that reminded me (unfavorably) of the sauces that often overpower unagi sushi in the US. The pluot was very acidic, presumably meant to balance the fatty foie gras, but given that the foie wasn't that heavy, the acidity seemed too much for the dish. The flan was nice enough, but strangely enough its taste reminded me more of mushrooms rather than the advertised uni 16. The pescatarian replacement for this dish was again vegetarian. Seared tofu was served with spinach and sliced bell peppers. I liked this dish better - it was a very nicely flavored, although a bit sweet, elevated version of a Chinese cuisine staple 16.
A small cut of Australian wagyu ribeye came with a “deconstructed” Bearnaise sauce, an herb salad, a crispy potato tuile and the famed Joël Robuchon mashed potatoes on the side. Those potatoes were actually the best part of the dish: buttery, creamy, while still tasting of potatoes - very nice 19. The beef was unfortunately served merely lukewarm, and was a tad chewy - not an ideal presentation. I liked its topping of pickled and capers that cut through the fat. The herb salad was not seasoned at all, and the sauce was nondescript 16. Much better was the pescatarian alternative, a caramelized black cod served with red miso, red peppers, baby spinach, bok choy and again the amazing mashed potatoes. The fish was wonderfully aromatic, cooked perfectly, the bok choy well seasoned and the sauce lovely. Only the raw spinach left me a bit puzzled. Not really a major complaint though 18.
The pre-dessert palate cleanser consisted of a coconut sorbet, a ginger granite, ginger gelee and a lemongrass foam. The ginger taste was dominant here, and I couldn't detect much coconut flavor. The foam was surprisingly thick 15.
Our main dessert was based on figs. Fig sorbet, a white chocolate mousse, fig compote, fresh figs, speculoos crumbles and a chocolate “tree” all were part of the dish. Overall, this was a subdued dessert, missing any bright flavors. Not necessarily heavy, but seemingly meant for the winter season. I would have preferred a fruit dessert to be more fruit-forward, but even the fig sorbet only had a light fig flavor 15.
The mirror image of the bread cart was the dessert cart, arriving at the end of our dinner. Literally dozens of bites were on offer, preventing us from trying them all. In addition there were three small desserts that the kitchen had to finish: panna cotta, creme brulee and a rum baba. I gave the latter one a try. The rum-soaked cake was filled with cream, but still maintained a solid texture on the outside. There was plenty of rum and the dessert was served cold. Presumably the only preparation needed a la minute was to pour the rum over the cake. Fine 15.
In addition we tried the following. A raspberry tarte was nicely fresh 17, a good cannele with a light crunch and moist interior 17, a “violet” macaroon filled with a fruity jam 15, a “Toblerone” that tasted mostly of chocolate and was darker than its namesake Swiss confection 15, a green apple/cinnamon truffle was crunchy and sweet 16, a “Snickers” tasted of roasted peanuts and was a bit bitter 15, a chocolate eclair was full of fresh chocolate cream 16, a dark chocolate praline was crunchy and full of caramel 18, an oatmeal praline actually had a texture of oats, which together with a jam filling made for an interesting, and different petit four 16, a “peach pate de fruit” felt more like a Haribo gummy - not bad, but not what I'd expect from a restaurant of this caliber 14, a tropical fruit pate de fruit was sweet and a bit generic 14, a milk chocolate topped with a hazelnut also had a hazelnut crunch filling - very nice 16. Then there were two plastic-wrapped bonbons: nougat was very fruity and had a light texture 15 and a passion fruit caramel was soft with a nicely fruity taste 17.
Overall: It's all about expectations. If this was a one-star restaurant, then I would have considered this a good, if not necessarily outstanding meal, with ok service, and a nice wine pairing. But for a former three star with a hefty $525 price tag, this dinner was a disappointment, especially compared to the far better meal we had here in 2016. There were still a few standout dishes including the famed mashed potatoes, but most courses came nowhere close to a three-star level. Apparently, experiencing Joël Robuchon's cuisine at such a level currently requires a trip to Asia 15.
